Oct. 12--PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- PANAMA CITY -- With the old Community Redevelopment Agency board out and the city commission firmly in control of the new one, the mood for some past proposals is tepid at best.

Take, for instance, a proposal pushed by the old CRA board just weeks before the city took over. The deal would have the CRA purchase land from Bay Medical Center for $500,000, and lease it to a third-party contractor to build a 500-space parking garage.

"I am not comfortable with the terms of that agreement," Commissioner Billy Rader said. "I just am not really happy with the CRA's role in this thing."

He is not alone.

"My goal is to exercise the option in that contract to cancel it," said Commissioner John Kady, who will make a motion to kill the contract at Tuesday's meeting.

The contract can be axed within 30 days of being signed with no penalty. The deadline is Oct. 16.

"I think there are some real questions to be asked about this thing," said Commissioner Jonathan Wilson.

Mayor Scott Clemons, who had been a proponent of the plan in the past, said it is important the CRA keep its options open.

"I would like the new CRA to have the maximum amount of flexibility to determine if we want to move forward," he said. "Before we move forward, we also need to determine if the hospital still wants to move forward with this." Four commissioners contacted by the News Herald said they were not opposed to the idea of a parking garage in the area, they just wanted to slow the process. Commissioner Nancy Wengel could not be reached for comment.

"The idea itself is not what I am against," Kady said.

"The process is what I think has been flawed."

The CRA voted to purchase the land -- contingent on BMC's ability to find a contractor -- less than two weeks before the city took over the reigns.

The vote came a week after the commission voted 4-1 to direct the CRA to make "no budget modifications, or execute no budget expenditures not explicitly laid out in the 2008-2009 budgets."

CRA attorney Mike Burke told CRA members at the meeting, where no audio was taken, that the because an actual written resolution was not in place, the city's vote did not apply to the BMC deal.

City attorney Rowlett Bryant disagreed.

"If the city made a motion and took a vote, I don't know that it differs substantially from a resolution. Both include a motion," he said in an interview the day after the meeting. "I would expect them to honor (the motion)."

Tuesday's CRA meeting begins at 4 p.m. at city hall.

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